University of Virginia Library

Chap. 8.

Thus Iob. Then Bildad of Suita said:
Vaine Man, how long wilt thou thy God up-braid!
And like the roaring of a furious wind
Thus vent the wild distemper of thy mind!
Can he pervert his Iudgements? shall he swerve
From his owne Justice, and thy Passions serve?
If he thy Sonnes for their rebellion slew;
Death was the wages to their merit dew.
Oh would'st thou seeke unto the Lord betimes,
With fervent prayer, and abstinence from crimes;
Nor with new follies spot thy Innocence:
Then would he alwayes watch in thy defence;
The House, that harbor'd so much vertue, blesse
With fruitfull Peace; and crowne thee with successe.
Then would he centuple thy former store;
And make thee farre more happy then before.
Search thou the Records of Antiquitie;
And on our Ancestors reflect thine Eye:
For we, alas! are but of Yesterday;
Know nothing, and like shadowes fleet away.
Thou in those Mirrors shalt the truth behold;
VVhose tongues un-erring Oracles unfold.
Can Bulrushes but by the River grow?
Can Flags there flourish where no waters flow?
Yet they, when greene, when yet untoucht, of all
That cloth the Spring, first hang their heads, and fall.
So double-hearted Hypocrites, so they
VVho God forget, shall in their prime decay.
Their ayery hopes as brittle as the thin
And subtill webs, which toyling Spiders spin.
Their Houses full of wealth, and Ryot, shall
Deceive their trust; and crush them in their fall.
Though like a Cedar, by the River fed,
He to the Sunne his ample Branches spread,
His Top surrounds with Clouds; deepe in the flood
Bathes his firme Rootes; even of himselfe a VVood:
And from his heigth a night-like shaddow throw
Vpon the Marble Palaces below:
Yet shall the Axe of Justice hew him downe;
And levell with the Roote, his lofty Crowne.
No Eye shall his out-raz'd impression view:
Nor mortall know where such a Glory grew.
Those seeming goods, whereof the wicked vaunt
Thus fade, while others on their ruines plant.
God never will the Innocent forsake:
Nor sinfull Soules to his protection take.
Cleanse thou thy Heart: then in thy ample breast
Joy shall triumph, and smiles thy cheekes invest.
He will thy Foes with silent shame confound:
And their proud structures levell with the ground.